In the 1945 to 1990 period, Roma were not considered a separate nationality in the Czech Republic. In the censuses in 1991 and 2001, there was a substantial expansion of the list of designated ethnic groups and for the first time since the end of World War II, the Roma could declare their Roma nationality and indicate Romani as their native language. However, this option was used by only a part of the Roma population, which means that the censuses of 1991 and 2001 include only those who were willing to declare their affiliation with the Roma ethnicity. In terms of the actual number of Roma in the population, however, this is an incomplete summary and the data cannot be presented as the actual number of Roma.

A comparison of estimates of the initial Roma population at the start of the 21^st century confirms the known fact that the higher estimates come from Roma representatives and are close to half a million, while estimates over 300 000 are also given by politicians and in exceptional cases by experts from other fields.

Based on the estimates presented in the expert literature, and with regard to the estimates in the mass media, it may be stated that at present there are about 200 000 Roma living in the Czech Republic. The minimum number, considering the substantial emigration of Roma, may be considered to be 150 000. If we omit the extreme values, the maximum estimates of the current population are around 250 000.

Gallery

HEALTH AND THE ROMA COMMUNITY, ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION IN EUROPE , Prague, Participation in the third steering committee

Steering Committee meeting 1

Steering Committee meeting 2

Steering Committee meeting 3

Steering Committee meeting 4

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